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　　Republican presidential nominee¹ John McCain has reversed his earlier decision and decided² to participate in Friday's long scheduled debate with Democrat³ candidate Barack Obama. McCain had said he would not attend the debate unless there was agreement on a controversial $700 billion plan to shore up the U.S. financial system, something U.S. lawmakers continue to struggling to achieve.
美国共和党总统候选人麦凯恩改变原来的主意，决定参加很早以前就确定的星期五跟民主党候选人奥巴马的辩论。麦凯恩曾经表示，他不会参加这次辩论，除非在引起争议的动用7000亿美元救助美国金融系统的计划上达成协议。美国国会议员还在努力就这项救市计划取得共识。
Senator John McCain announced Friday he will take part in Friday night's debate with fellow Senator Barack Obama at the University of Mississippi. Earlier in the week, McCain said he was suspending his presidential campaign and wanted to postpone⁴ the debate until a bailout agreement had been reached.
麦凯恩参议员星期五宣布，他将参加星期五晚上在密西西比大学跟竞争对手奥巴马参议员的辩论。麦凯恩这个星期早些时候表示，他准备中断总统竞选，并希望把这次辩论推迟到各方在救市计划上达成协议之后。
Both McCain and Obama stopped making campaign appearances and returned to Washington Thursday to meet with President Bush and other officials about the administration's proposed $700 billion rescue plan for the financial industry.
麦凯恩和奥巴马星期四都停下了竞选活动，回到华盛顿跟美国总统布什等官员就政府提出的7000亿美元救助金融业的计划进行磋商。
Before leaving for the debate site in Mississippi Friday, Obama repeated his view that he and McCain should debate as planned.
奥巴马星期五动身前往密西西比辩论地点之前一再重申他的观点，就是他认为他和麦凯恩的辩论应该如期举行。
"My strong sense is that the best thing that I could do, rather than to inject presidential politics into some delicate negotiations⁵, is to go down to Mississippi," he said.
奥巴马说：“我强烈地感到，我最应该做的就是去密西西比，而不是把总统竞选政治加入某些微妙的谈判。”
Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry⁶ Reid said Friday McCain was not contributing to a solution. "The insertion of presidential politics has not been helpful," he said. "All he has done is stand in front of the cameras. We still do not know where he stands on the issue."
美国国会参议院民主党多数党领袖雷德星期五说，麦凯恩的做法无助于解决这个问题。雷德说：“把总统选举政治加进来并没有帮助。他所做的就是站在摄像镜头前面。我们仍然不清楚他在这个问题上的立场。”
Senate Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell disagreed, saying both McCain and Obama helped the process along.
参议院共和党少数党领袖麦康纳尔不同意这种看法。他认为麦凯恩和奥巴马都对推进这个进程发挥了作用。
"Both presidential candidates coming back [to Washington] was actually helpful," he said. "It underscored the significance of moving forward and moving forward on a bipartisan basis and doing it quickly. So I think Senator McCain's role has been entirely⁷ constructive⁸."
麦康纳尔说：“两位总统候选人回到华盛顿实际上是有帮助的。这强调了向前推进、而且是两党合作向前推进、以及迅速解决这个问题的重要性。因此我认为，麦凯恩参议员的作用完全具有建设性。”
Top Republican and Democratic lawmakers continued meeting with Treasury⁹ Secretary Henry Paulson and other administration officials Friday, to try to work out an economic rescue plan.
共和党和民主党高层议员星期五继续跟财政部长保尔森等政府官员磋商，争取达成一项经济救助计划。
U.S. President George Bush urged lawmakers Friday to rise to the occasion and reach agreement soon. "There are disagreements over aspects of the rescue plan," he said. "But there is no disagreement that something substantial must be done. The legislative¹⁰ process is sometimes not very pretty, but we are going to get a package passed."
美国总统布什星期五敦促国会议员重视目前的形势，尽快达成协议。布什说：“对这项救助方案的方方面面存在分歧。但是大家一致认为必须采取实质性行动。立法进程有时不那么令人愉快，不过我们会通过一个协议。”
Much of the opposition¹¹ to the proposal has come from within President Bush's own party. Republicans in the House of Representatives are demanding "serious consideration" of a proposal which would sharply limit government assistance to financial institutions that are in trouble because of bad loans they made.
反对这项救市计划的议员大多数来自布什总统所在的共和党。众议院共和党议员要求“认真考虑”一项提案，这项提案将大幅度限制政府对那些因自身不良贷款缠身而陷入困境的金融机构提供援助。
House Republican Minority Leader John Boehner said Friday he is being bullied¹² by the White House. "I do not know what games were being played at the White House yesterday, ganging up on Boehner, but if they thought they were rolling me, they were kidding themselves," he said.
众议院少数党领袖博纳星期五表示，他正在受到白宫的恐吓。博纳说：“我不明白昨天在白宫玩的什么游戏，大家联合起来对付我，可是如果他们以为会压服我，那他们是自欺欺人了。”
Boehner says he and fellow House Republicans are protecting the taxpayers¹³' best interests. "There are a lot of proposals out there that will work," he said. "What we have got to do is to do our best on behalf of taxpayers."
博纳说，他和众议院其他共和党议员正在保护纳税人的最佳利益。博纳说：“有很多方案都可以帮助救市。我们要做的就是代表纳税人尽最大努力。”
Public opinion polls show that the president's economic rescue plan is not popular. Only 30 percent of Americans polled say they support the bailout package. Another 45 percent oppose the plan, and 25 percent are unsure about it.
民意调查显示，布什总统的经济拯救方案不得人心。只有30%的受访的美国人表示支持这个救助计划。45%的受访者反对，还有25%的人对这项计划没有信心。
Republicans and Democrats¹⁴ in the Senate said publicly Friday they will work together to find an acceptable solution quickly.
参议院的共和党和民主党议员星期五公开表示，他们将共同努力尽快找到一项可以接受的方案。
The latest news from the U.S. economy highlights the urgency of the situation. The Commerce Department reported Friday that the U.S. gross domestic product increased at a 2.8 percent annual rate from April to June, less than the 3.3 percent growth estimate made one month ago.
Also, Thursday saw the largest single bank failure in U.S. history. Washington Mutual¹⁵ collapsed¹⁶, and its $307 billion in assets were sold to JP Morgan Chase for $1.9 billion.